Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Mercy For White Collar Criminals is the American Way

So, if I'm reading this right, and I probably am, Jeffrey Skilling is going to have ten years knocked off his prison sentence because he's going to give up a claim on money he stole and was ordered to forfeit. Am I alone in thinking that this miscarriage of justice is a uniquely American aspect of showing deference and mercy towards the ruling, elite, business class while showing little if any concern towards the people at the bottom end of the spectrum?

How many people convicted of possessing marijuana, for example, are going to be let out of jail ten years early? How many people who were prescribed drugs that ruined their lives and left them desperate enough to commit crimes where they stole a few thousand dollars worth of stuff are going to get ten years of their lives back?

Skilling should lose every penny he ever made and serve every day of his sentence. Granted, there is time off for good behavior. That should be applied to any and all who deserve it. A man who ruined the lives of tens of thousands of people and looted their life's savings and wrecked so much deserves the time in prison he was given.

We have a problem with how we apply our values in America, circa 2013. Our elites have failed us, again and again, and prison is probably the best place for them. I would hope someone would have the good sense to keep Skilling from wrecking the lives of people in the future. My guess is that he will, when released early, find some loophole and go back to doing what he does best--proving that our elites are craven, incompetent thieves.